Modern computer graphics systems, including virtual environment systems, are used for numerous applications such as mapping, navigation, flight training, surveillance, and even playing computer games. In general, these applications are launched by the computer graphics system's operating system upon selection by a user from a menu or other graphical user interface (“GUI”). A GUI is used to convey information to and receive commands from users and generally includes a variety of GUI objects or controls, including icons, toolbars, drop-down menus, text, dialog boxes, buttons, and the like. A user typically interacts with a GUI by using a pointing device (e.g., a mouse) to position a pointer or cursor over an object and “clicking” on the object.
One problem with these computer graphics systems is their inability to effectively display detailed information for selected graphic objects when those objects are in the context of a larger image. A user may require access to detailed information with respect to an object in order to closely examine the object, to interact with the object, or to interface with an external application or network through the object. For example, the detailed information may be a close-up view of the object or a region of a digital map image.
While an application may provide a GUI for a user to access and view detailed information for a selected object in a larger image, in doing so, the relative location of the object in the larger image may be lost to the user. Thus, while the user may have gained access to the detailed information required to interact with the object, the user may lose sight of the context within which that object is positioned in the larger image. This is especially so when the user must interact with the GUI using a computer mouse or keyboard. The interaction may further distract the user from the context in which the detailed information is to be understood. This problem is an example of what is often referred to as the “screen real estate problem”.
Now, the growth of the Internet and online map presentation technologies has resulted in broad availability of online and interactive presentation of maps and geographically relevant photographic images. Similarly, geospatial software applications and online services such as Google Earth™ have provided online access to photorealistic representations of cities, in some cases with knowledge of the locations and representative geometry of buildings. However, in such urban landscape presentations, one of the areas of concern is occlusion of buildings or other entities of interest (i.e., regions-of-interest, objects-of-interest) to the user by buildings that are in the line of sight between the user and a building that may be of interest. For example, a user may have a potential interest in the existence of a building housing a bookstore or coffee shop on the next block but may not be aware of it because of buildings near his present viewing location that occlude the building of potential interest. Various approaches to occlusion resolution have been attempted for 3D visualization, such as the 3D lens approach of Cowperthwaite (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,798,412 to Cowperthwaite, which is incorporated herein by reference) and the building height adjustment of Yano (see U.S. Pat. No. 5,999,879 to Yano, which is incorporated herein by reference). However, these approaches cause displacements of building locations and/or building height adjustments that can be very disorienting to the user, and can be expensive in terms of the required computations.
A need therefore exists for an improved method and system for generating and adjusting detailed views of selected information within the context of surrounding information presented on the display of a computer system. Accordingly, a solution that addresses, at least in part, the above and other shortcomings is desired.